You Can\'t Go Home

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing you recognize. It all belongs to the marvelous Jo Rowling who has given us such a magnificent playground!

A different take on the marriage law challenge, it will be SS/HG I promise! We’re just getting there the long way around….hope you enjoy!

Hermione was dreaming. It was one of those dreams that a person has when she is close to waking – pleasant and able, more so than most dreams, to be guided to pleasant memories or favorite fantasies. In her dream it was the summer before her seventh year. She was spending the two weeks before school at the Burrow with the Weasleys and she, Ron, and Harry had planned a picnic the day before they were to catch the Hogwart’s Express. They went down to a little lake near the Burrow with all sorts of scrumptious food and ate until they were drowsy and then napped in the sun. The best part of the day by far had been when she and Ron woke up before Harry and took a walk. They had held hands and talked with excitement about everything that they could do now that Voldemort was finally defeated. Eventually, finding themselves in a secluded area behind some spreading lilac bushes, Ron had leaned in to kiss Hermione.

In real life she and Ron had been to shy and nervous to go beyond holding hands and the one awkward attempt at a kiss but in her dream she could pretend it had gone further. Ron led her behind the lilac bushes, their sweet fragrance filling Hermione’s nostrils, and leaned in to capture her mouth in what could be the sweetest kiss ever bestowed to a mortal. Hermione knew that the kiss tasted and felt so divine because she and Ron were so completely in love. This was first love and Hermione could not imagine a time when she and Ron would not be together. Ron was sweetly exploring Hermione’s lips and she was eagerly pressing her body forward, against his, almost as though she were trying to merge into one being with him. When his hand finally slipped down to her breast Hermione felt like she would burst. His hands explored her breast with the same gentle sweetness that his mouth was exploring her mouth and Hermione was reduced to a quivering mass of jelly – she felt her legs could no longer support her. She knelt in the grass pulling Ron down along with her. She pushed him down gently and straddled him so that she could rain kisses on his face while he continued his increasingly fervent exploration of her breasts. As she slid down the length of his body she felt his hardness pressing into her and moaned into his mouth. He was so sweet, so perfect – they were so perfect.

“Madam Snape, you told Esa to wake you, you told Esa not to take no for an answer” said a house elf from the side of Hermione’s bed. “So here Esa is, waking Madam Snape”

Hermione groaned into her pillow. Classes had finished the week before and he had finished his grading, submitted the grades to Headmistress McGonagall and sent a quick note to Snape Manor saying to expect him today. How could she have forgotten? How did she manage to sleep so well and have such a wonderful dream?

“Thank you Esa, as you can see I’m awake” Hermione said from her cocoon of pillows and blankets – thoroughly intending to fall back asleep as soon as Esa left. “You can return to whatever you were doing.”

“Madam Snape told Esa she might say that, but that Esa was to stay until Madam Snape was actually out of bed” the elf persisted.

‘Damn’ thought Hermione ‘I am too tricky for my own good, well there’s no help for it now’ “Oh fine, I am awake, see” said Hermione flinging aside her blankets and standing up. “Please make sure that there is Earl Grey tea ready and make sure it is prepared the way Professor Snape likes it. He should be home shortly and will, undoubtedly, need his caffeine”

There was a small pop as Esa left her to get dressed. Hermione chose a set of plain black robes – from her wardrobe of plain black robes, Professor Snape disliked colors, he found them distracting – making certain that they were neatly pressed and presentable for breakfast with her husband. She charmed her hair into a demure bun – again, her husband hated her loose, riotously curling hair – and tied a black ribbon around it.

After a last look in the mirror to make sure nothing was out of place she left her rooms and descended the stairs to the small breakfast room. She poured herself a cup of tea and settled back with the Daily Prophet to wait for the appearance of her husband. She nearly dropped her cup when she read the headline – “Minister Fudge steps down, Harry Potter new Minister of Magic says ‘First order of business a repeal of the marriage law’”. She felt a strange sensation in her chest, as if her heart, which had been in hibernation these eleven long years, was finally waking up. She could feel color coming back to her face and life flowing back to her limbs – she could pursue all the dreams she had at 18. She could go to university. She could reconnect with Ron. She was free!